CHAPTER 121: A CURSED DAY

Victor’s drive home was filled with him seething and planning his revenge.

’Maybe someone in the underworld can restore the files,’ he thought to himself as he continued driving.

He really needed those materials to smear the company’s name. He wanted to reveal to the public that Solterra Development Groups was filled with money hungry, corrupt higher ups.

He wanted a way to paint all his actions as theirs and to snatch public trust away from them.

If no one trusted them, then their fall would quickly arrive. In just a few months they’d be nothing but a third rate company.

And with the legal repercussions that would come with him leaking the files and twisting the story, they’d go bankrupt overnight.

Before they knew what hit them, it’d be too late and that’s when he’ll stand before them with a grin on his face as he reminded them that he had promised to make them regret this.

It would be the perfect revenge.

His anger soon faded away, replaced by glee as he imagined the downfall of Solterra. He imagined the faces of the board members filled with despair and regret.

And in his mind, Victor had already created what he thought to be the new owner’s looks.

He imagined a fat man too ashamed of his looks to be hiding behind that cartoon avatar bowing before him, begging for him to take back whatever statements he released.

Victor couldn’t contain his grin as he got lost in his fantasy. He had everything thought out and at the end of it all, he saw himself as the winner.

The fantasy lasted until his phone suddenly rang.

At first he ignored it, too busy savoring the downfall of Solterra but the calls came faster than he could ignore so he had no other choice.

He glanced: three missed calls from his bank, one from his lawyer, and a string of texts flagged urgent. He opened the first email and the color immediately drained from his face.

Account access suspended pending investigation.

Notice: Temporary hold applied to all personal and corporate accounts due to suspicious activity flagged by compliance.

He let out a chuckle . "That must be a clerical error," he told himself. He immediately called the bank and it only rang for a second before a polite voice answered.

Theperson asked for verification and then, without ceremony, revealed exactly what the notification had.

"We’ve received a regulatory request tied to potential fraudulent transfers and money-laundering investigations," the banker said. "All accounts are frozen until cleared. Your home mortgage servicing company has been notified. I’m sorry, Mr. Carroway."

He froze at the information but he still tried to steady his breathing.

"This must be some sort of mistake," he said. "Yes, it’s definitely a mistake. Who filed—?"

"We can’t disclose that," the banker replied. "You’ll need legal counsel."

That’s right, his lawyer was trying to call him, so maybe it was to fix whatever was going on with the bank.

With that thought, he immediately dropped the call to the bank and dialed his lawyer’s.

The line ring for a while before he was soon redirected to voicemail. Dropping the call, he tried contacting his lawyer again but the results were always the same.

He would immediately be directed to Voicemail.

Victor’s grip on the steering wheel tightened until his knuckles turned pale.

His breath came started coming out as short gasps as the initial panic started setting in.

"No... no, this doesn’t make sense," he muttered. His lawyer never ignored his calls. Not once had that happened.

He tried again, then again and again, but every attempt met with the same redirect to voicemail. It seemed as if the universe was conspiring against him.

He switched to his messages, as he started sending a string of messages.

—Call me back now.

—I need you. Something’s wrong with the bank.

—Don’t ignore me, damn it.

But the status on each message was the same. It was delivered but never read.

His phone buzzed again, another email had appeared into his inbox, this one also caused his stomach to drop as he read it:

Notice of Mortgage Default , Immediate Attention Required.

They weren’t wasting time. His mortgage company was already moving against him, citing missed payments that he didn’t even know that he had.

He knew he had paid, automatic debits were always covered by his accounts.

Except now those accounts were frozen, and the system had flagged him as delinquent.

"Impossible," Victor growled, slamming the dashboard. He had money. He had more than enough to cover everything. Yet somehow it was as though his entire financial foundation had been ripped from under him.

Another notification chimed. This time from his brokerage app. He opened it with shaking fingers.

Error: Account Restricted. Please contact support.

Every single cent he thought he had control over was suddenly untouchable.

"Who the hell...?" he whispered, sweat dripping down the side of his face. His mind raced to the only conclusion that made sense.

The fat bastard behind that ridiculous cartoon avatar. It had to be him, because from what he had seen in just a few minutes of meeting, he was sure that the bastard was capable of this and more.

What had he even done to anger the bastard? Was this his way of showing his power?

Or was this how he always set examples? But besides that there was one lingering question, who the hell was he to be able to do all this in a few seconds.

That didn’t matter right now as Victor tried dialing Anthony, then Melissa but like with his lawyer, the call went straight to voicemail. Were they ignoring him, or... were they facing the same thing?

"What the hell is even happening?" He let out in confusion.

Just when he had planned out how to take down those bastards, this was happening to him.

Victor Carroway was so distracted by the wave of bad news that he didn’t see the incoming truck or notice that he had entered the wrong lane.

Luckily, he raised his head just before the truck crashed into him and with the help of adrenaline, he was able to swerve the car back into his lane.

The truck driver letting out a string of curses as he drove away.

"Fuck!" Victor loudly let out.

Today was definitely a cursed day for him or something, which was exactly how Anthony and Melissa were feeling at the moment as they also received their waves of bad news.